In the mid-1880s, he went into business with his brother Gustavus, establishing a mill and mine in San Jan County near Silverton.

The following year he married Lena Allen Webster who would become joint owner of the business and an operational manager.

They were involved in community, philanthropic, and industry efforts, including dual-membership in the American Institute of Mining Engineers.

[3][4][5][a] His parents were Helena Rouse and Felix Stoiber, who were members of the German Evangelical Mission Church in New York City.

[2] Because of the rugged terrain, little headway could be made in tapping the rich gold and silver deposits as long as the veins could only be reached by mule train over dangerous mountain trials, Things changed dramatically in the 1890s.

As Duane Smith notes, this decade marked the coming of the end of an era dominated by graduates of the school of hard knocks.

When prospectors first came to Colorado in search of gold or silver, they were more likely to find relatively high concentrations of metal as compared to rock.

[9] In the mid-1880s Edward and his brother Gustavus obtained 200 claims at the head of Arrastra Gulch and established the Silver Lake Mine[10] and operated a custom ore sampler.

He began building one of the most modern mining facilities in the West, including a mill complex at Silver Lake.

[13] He had an 8,640 Bleichert tramway built in 1895 by the Trenton Iron Company to move the ore down the mountain to Arrastra Gulch.

[10] In 1901, he sold the Silver Lakes Mines to the American Smelting and Refining Company for $2.35 million (equivalent to $86,066,400 in 2023).

Among his large gifts to educational institutions, he donated an elaborate set of instruments to the Colorado School of Mines and established a scientific section at the University Club library.

[15] Lena hosted dances and other entertainment for the workers, delivered presents to children at Christmas, and was a stalwart partner to her husband, doing whatever needed to be done to make the business run effectively.

For instance, Lena developed a tendency to build high walls between her neighbors and herself, both in her first house in Silverton with Edward and later at the mansion in Denver.

They lived in Paris, France beginning in 1904, but were planning on returning to Denver to build a mansion based on his sketches.